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[PUBLIC POST] What's a non-writing skill useful for writing?
A lot of us spend time working on the practice and theory of fiction-writing. But are there skills that don't have to do directly with fiction writing that are nontheless helpful? I've heard of art being useful to writers, for instance, and a musician I know is guided by her musical skills and inspirations when writing. I know another writer who's also an actor, and have heard anecdotally of actors making good writers. Andrew Robinson, who played Garak in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, wrote the novel A Stitch in Time about his character's background that I found wonderfully moving and evocative, not to mention great world-building of Cardassia. I can see a direct connection there between the two skillsets since acting is about expressing characters, like much of writing is.
While I am not an actor, I found my experience playing and running roleplaying games highly useful for understanding characters and keeping track of storylines in my writing projects. Roleplaying has also given me a perspective of stories not as something that comes from me but from the characters' own motivations and interests. When it comes down to it I have to inhabit these characters and play them, an ethos that I apply to writing as well.
Are there non-writing skills or experiences that you find useful for writing? Have you observed others using different skillsets when writing?
While I am not an actor, I found my experience playing and running roleplaying games highly useful for understanding characters and keeping track of storylines in my writing projects. Roleplaying has also given me a perspective of stories not as something that comes from me but from the characters' own motivations and interests. When it comes down to it I have to inhabit these characters and play them, an ethos that I apply to writing as well.
Are there non-writing skills or experiences that you find useful for writing? Have you observed others using different skillsets when writing?
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I'm not going to talk about ropleplaying, I'm going to go super weird and talk about a board game.
Specifically, 7Wonders.
It's got several ways to win points: money, war, science, trade, building the Wonder... so there are many different ways to win. Seeing how various strategies lead to victory (or not!) is super illuminating, because it depends not only on what you do but on what your neighbours do and what cards you have. It's a great way to get a concrete feel for how various economic systems can work with each other and how distribution of ressources can change both your strategy and how you develop your society.
Also, it's super fun!
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